The embattled Arizona sheriff leading the search for Nancy Guthrie admitted Thursday that analyzing the DNA and digital evidence collected during the six-month-long investigation has been “complex and time-intensive.”
Chris Nanos – the Pima County Sheriff – said local police and FBI investigators remain committed to finding 84-year-old Guthrie – despite the few leads that have arisen since the matriarch’s February disappearance.
“The Guthrie investigation remains active and ongoing,” he said in a statement shared on X.
“A task force of investigators from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI remains committed to finding Nancy and providing answers to her family. The analysis of DNA and digital evidence has been underway for the past six months.
“This work is complex and time-intensive, but investigators continue to pursue every credible lead.”
Nanos echoed the message that Nancy Guthrie’s “Today” star daughter Savannah Guthrie made in a heartbreaking plea shared online earlier this week.
“As Savannah Guthrie recently said, it is never too late to do the right thing,” he said. “Anyone with information is urged to come forward and help bring this case to a resolution.”
Nanos, who has been criticized over his handling of this case, revealed earlier this week that he was “still positive” it would be resolved.
“We have so much DNA to sort through,” he told NBC.
“We have so much in terms of video evidence to look at. So I’m still positive that we’re going to resolve this case.”
Nanos wouldn’t set a date for when the evidence would be processed.
“This science is so fast, all science in today’s world [is] so fast moving,” he told Gen-Z commentator Wyatt Sharpe on “The Sharpe Exchange” earlier this week.
“They are looking at some pretty cool stuff out there about DNA and how it can be used.”
Nanos said investigators are “being careful as they should be” because they don’t want to arrest the wrong person.
“We have those parameters that say here’s the guidelines, and we have to trust our labs to know those guidelines and not to push them, to allow them to do their job,” he said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the disappearance – but Nanos “absolutely” believes potential suspects could still be in the Tucson, Arizona area.
Guthrie was snatched from her home in the wealthy Tucson suburb of Catalina Hills on Feb. 1.
“We investigate every single lead until we can’t follow it any further,” he said.
The search for Guthrie has involved local law enforcement as well as FBI investigators.
